PINK HOUSES
JOHN MELLENCAMP
SONGWRITER: ISLAND DEF JAM MUSIC GROUP
COUNTRY: U.S.A.
WHERE: LIVE AT FARM AID 2005
ALBUM: UH-HUH
LABEL: RIVA RECORDS
GENRE: ROCK AND ROLL
YEAR: 1983
"Pink Houses" is
a song written and performed by John Mellencamp. It was released on the 1983
album Uh-Huh on Riva Records. It reached No. 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in
early 1984. "Pink Houses" was ranked No. 439 on Rolling Stone magazine's
list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Recorded in a farmhouse in
Brownstown, Indiana, the song was inspired when Mellencamp was driving along an
overpass on the way home to Bloomington, Indiana from the Indianapolis airport.
There was an old black man sitting outside his little Pink shotgun house with
his cat in his arms, completely unperturbed by the traffic speeding along the
highway in his front yard. "He waved, and I waved back," Mellencamp
said in an interview with Rolling Stone. "That's how 'Pink Houses' started."
Mellencamp has stated many times since the release of
"Pink Houses" that he's unhappy with the song's final verse. At an
October 2014 press conference, he stated: "A long time ago, I wrote a song
called 'Pink Houses.' Now when I hear that song, all I can think is: 'Why
didn't I do a better job on the last verse?' If I had
written it today, the last verse would've had more meaning."
The song also served as a
scathing critique of Yuppies and Reaganomics and the overall "Greed is
good" atmosphere of the time.
There's a black man with a black cat
Living in a black neighborhood
He's got an interstate running' through his front yard
You know, he thinks, he's got it so good
And there's a woman in the kitchen cleaning' up evening slop
And he looks at her and says:
"Hey darling, I can remember when you could stop a clock"
Oh but ain't that America, for you
and me
Ain't that America, we're something to see baby
Ain't that America, home of the free, yeah
Little pink houses for you and me, oh for you and me
Well there's a young man in a T-shirt
Listenin' to a rock 'n' roll station
He's got a greasy hair, greasy smile
He says: "Lord, this must be my destination"
'Cause they told me, when I was younger
Sayin' "Boy, you're gonna be president"
But just like everything else, those old crazy dreams
Just kinda came and went
Oh but ain't that America, for you
and me
Ain't that America, we're something to see baby
Ain't that America, home of the free, yeah
Little pink houses, for you and me, oh baby for you and me
Well there's people and more people
What do they know, know, know
Go to work in some high rise
And vacation down at the Gulf of Mexico
Ooo yeah
And there's winners, and there's
losers
But they ain't no big deal
'Cause the simple man baby pays the thrills,
The bills and the pills that kill
Oh but ain't that America, for you
and me
Ain't that America, we're something to see baby
Ain't that America, home of the free, yeah
Little pink houses for you and me, ooo, ooo yeah
Ain't that America, for you and me
Ain't that America, hey we're something to see baby
Ain't that America, oh the home of the free,
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Little pink houses babe for you and me, ooo yeah ooo yeah.